In the Bubble
by JennWilson
Summary: alternate ending to S02E08, when the aid car When the aid car carrying Andy and Sullivan crashes, their lives are thrown into jeopardy. With Sullivan unable to move his legs, and their patient unconscious, hanging in the balance of life and death, it is up to Andy to save them. But what if she fails. Will the team be able to save them in time? Will they ever recover?
1. Introduction

This is an alternate ending to S02E08 when the aid car crashes.

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to Shonda Rhimes, not myself

Summary: When the aid car carrying Andy and Sullivan crashes into the woods, their lives are thrown into jeopardy. With Sullivan unable to move his legs, and their patient unconscious, hanging in the balance of life and death, it is up to Andy to save them. But what if she fails. Will the team be able to save them in time? Will they ever recover?

Changes:

-Maya never applied for lieutenant

-Jack was not suffering from PTSD

-The aid car was heading towards Grey Sloan, not Rainer First

Please comment with any story requests or advice

I will try to post once a week however I may not always be able to, at the end of each chapter I will give an estimate as to when the next one will be posted


	2. Chapter 1: Rescued

**Chapter 1: Lost**

**Begins around 20 minutes into S02E08**

**Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to Shonda Rhimes**

**General POV**

"Smashed…soaked. These all got destroyed in the crash." Andy frantically searched through the road flares.

"I got one that's still viable. This will burn for 30 minutes at least I'm going" she took the flare and stuck it in her coat pocket and headed towards the door.

"Wait," Sullivan said, his voice weak and tired "Grey Sloan will have noticed we didn't arrive by now help will come"

"Shannon doesn't have enough time she's already crashed once chances of it happening again are high and again and again after that and without electrolytes that will kill her. You know that" Andy said as she fastened a headlamp onto her head

"Then you have to climb carefully if you lose consciousness or if you get hurt. If u fail I won't be able to go out after you."

"Then I won't fail," Andy said as she opened the door of the ambulance and climbed out.

Andy's POV

The hill was steep. 60 maybe 70 degrees. Almost impossible to climb. I reached her hand up and grabbed on to a rock above her pulling myself up. As I lifted her foot up, it slipped.

_'this is just like rock climbing, you can do this' _I thought to myself as I hung there, the one thing keeping me from falling was my hand on the rock. And I was losing my grip. I took a deep breath in and swung my foot up to a nearby rock pushing myself further up the hill. I kept climbing higher and higher. I grabbed onto a tree root and pulled. But the root gave way. As the root tore out of the ground I started to panic. I grasped at the ground for a rock, a branch, anything but it was no use. I slid backwards tumbling down the mountain. Suddenly I stopped, slamming into a rock. pain shot through my body. I reached my hand up to my head. Blood. I looked down at her leg. A tree branch was going right through my thigh. I failed. Now nobody could save us. I looked up at the sky. _'It's so beautiful out here' _I thought to myself. Far away from the city, the stars shone brightly in the sky. The pain began to subside and the stars started disappearing from the sky, one at a time until there was nothing. Only darkness.

**Jacks POV:**

"Hey Trav, do you have an eight" I heard Hughes say from across the table.

"cheater" Montgomery said "you're cheating"

"no, I'm not"

"yes, you are, you have gotten 6 in a row"

"are you guys seriously playing go fish?" I interrupted "what are you, five"

They both turned at look at me

"We have been stuck in this place forever and we've kinda run out of other things to do" Hughes said to me

They resumed their game and their bickering. I got up and walked over to the fridge. Just as I was about to open it, Chief Ripley walked in

"Everybody, we've got communication back. We are officially ungrounded"

"Finally," I sighed "we can finally start taking calls and get out of here"

"Wait. there's more" chief Ripley said "Aid car 19 never made it to Grey Sloan memorial, no one's heard from them in over an hour"

My heart dropped. Andy… Andy is in the aid car.

I pushed past Ripley and ran towards the barn. I jumped in the passenger seat of the engine. Everything around me was spinning. Andy could be hurt. She could be gone. I turned to my left and saw Hughes jump in the driver's seat. The engine took off, speeding out of the barn.

**General POV**

"drive faster," Jack said

"I can't" Hughes responded "if we go to fast we might drive past them"

They had been driving for nearly 40 minutes with still no sign the aid car. Jack was looking out the window when suddenly…

"Hughes stop"

"what Gibson, what is it this time"

"Tire tracks… over there. Tire tracks swerving off the road and a missing piece of guard rail"

"holy shit. That could be them"

The engine screeched to a halt and everyone jumped out. They ran towards the edge and there, at the bottom of a massive, steep hill was the aid car. Bashed and battered, lying on its side.

"Bishop, Hughes, get out the harnesses. You two will go down and assess while we call for more help"

Jack stood there at the edge of the road, looking through the forest. He scanned the hill for something, anything to tell him andy was alive. That's when he saw it. A yellow reflector strip bouncing the light of his headlamp back at him. Turnout. It was someone's turnout gear. As he walked closer to the edge he saw the name on the back of the coat. Herrera.

"Andy" jack screamed as he started to run towards the hill

"no" Pruitt yelled "you can't go down there without a harness, it's too steep, it's too dangerous"

Jack wasn't listening. He scrambled down the hill, running as fast as he could. He fell down, branches scraping his arms, but he didn't care. He kept going. When he finally reached her, he rolled her over onto her back. He held her head in his hands. Blood. There was so much blood. Her leg was impaled on a stick, her arm was twisted around, and the back of her head was covered in blood, she probably hit it on the rock she was pressed against.

"Andy" Jack whispered, tears rolling down his face "Andy wake up… I need you"

Andy's eyes opened slightly

"Jack?" she said weakly, struggling to stay conscious

"Andy, you're awake. I was so scared"

Andy's eyes started to close again, the blood loss was too great for her body to cope.

"Andy no… please... I need you, I love you. I always have and I always will. Please just stay with me" Jack cried

Andy looked at him and smiled before closing her eyes again, drifting back into the darkness

"ANDY" Jack screamed. His voice echoing through the empty woods. he shook her, trying to wake her up but it was no use. He pressed his fingers against her neck. Pulse. It was weak but it was there. He pulled her head up against his chest holding her close.

"Put this on" he heard a voice from behind him

He turned around and saw Hughes standing behind him with an extra harness. He slipped the harness around his waist. and fastened it tightly. Then, he scooped Andy up into his arms and started to climb back up the hill.

**The next chapter should be up in a couple of hours.**

**Please comment with story requests and advice**


	3. Chapter 2: Saved

**Chapter 3: Saved**

**Jacks POV**

"Andy Herrera, 27-year-old female, deep head laceration, possible blunt force trauma, open leg wound after a steep fall. BP 187 or 120 coded three times en-route no known allergies or previous medical conditions" I said as Hughes and I lifted the gurney of the rig.

"oh my god is that Herrera?"

I looked up. "Ya… Its Dr. Grey right?"

"yes… is there anything I can do for you"

"just stay with her… Please. Make sure she's ok. I need her to be ok"

"Alright" Meredith said grabbing the gurney. And just like that, the doctors were speeding away, whisking Andy into a nearby trauma room. I ran after them and saw them go into trauma 1. As they rushed against time to save her I paced back and forth outside the room. I needed her. I couldn't go on if she died.

Meredith POV:

This was a mess. She had lost at least half her blood, she was barely breathing, and if she didn't get any more oxygen, she would be brain dead in a matter of minutes. I packed and dressed her head wound and examined the rest of her body. She would need surgery on her leg, and it would most likely be broken. Her arm was most definitely broken in two places, her head lack was deep, possible brain-damaging, she had internal bleeding and her hip bone was shattered.

"she's crashing" A nurse called

"crap… one of epi, starting CPR" nothing happened. I grabbed the paddles off of the cart.

"charge to 200…Clear" I looked out the window of the trauma room and saw Gibson standing there as her body hit the table with a large thud, he winced, turning away and sinking to the floor.

"charge to 300… Clear"

"sinus rhythm, she's back"

With that, we headed straight up to the OR. She would need surgery after surgery after surgery. This was going to be a long day.

**Vic's POV**

Andy had been in surgery for 7 hours. Most of us took shifts, switching off every 4 hours. Right now, Travis and I were here while Maya and Dean were at the station.

"she has to be ok, she has to be ok, she has to be ok" I look up at Jack. He has been restless ever since she went into surgery. Refusing to leave the waiting room, pacing back and forth, repeating that same sentence over and over again.

"she has to be ok, she has to be ok, she has to be ok" He hadn't slept, he hadn't eaten, he hadn't even had a sip of water.

"Gibson, Hughes, Montgomery" I looked up to see Dr. Grey walking up to us. I immediately shot out of my chair, as did Montgomery

"what's happening, is she ok, is she going to be ok" Jack asked

"she pulled through" Dr. Grey responded

We were able to remove the tree branch from her leg and stop her internal bleeding. There were some complications…"

"what…" jack interrupted "what complications?"

"she had a brain bleed, we didn't see it for a while. Dr. Shephard was able to control it before it became too bad however we won't know if there is any damage until she wakes up."

"When will that be? When will she wake up?" Jack pressed

"she still needs surgery on her hip and arm, and a little more on her leg and abdomen so we are keeping her in a medically induced coma for the next few days. After that… it's hard to tell"

Jack's eyes dropped. He stopped breathing for a moment and collapsed into a nearby chair.

"she has to be ok, she has to be ok, she has to be ok"

**General POV**

It had been 17 days. 17 days since the crash. 17 days since Andy had last been conscious. And for 17 days, Jack had barely slept. As soon as his shift was over at the station, he would come to the hospital to be with her. He slept whenever he could, in the bunks at the station in between calls and occasionally falling asleep in the chair in the corner of Andy's room. Now, he had pulled the chair up to the bed. He was holding her hands tightly and resting his head on her chest. He was just about to doze off when he heard something. He shot up and looked at Andy. Hope flooded through his body, was she awake? But to his dismay, her eyes were closed. He must have imagined it. For a moment he though she was back. A beautiful, fleeting moment. He sunk back down into his chair when he saw her lips move, he couldn't quite make out what she was saying.

"Andy?" Jack asked.

"I love you too" She whispered, smiling weakly at me.

"So, you remember?" Jack asked

"everything"

Jack looked out the window of the room and saw Sullivan passing by in his wheelchair. Sullivan looked over at him sternly. Jack pulled his hands away from Andy's

"Jack" Andy said her voice shaking "jack please stay… don't let go"

"I just have to tell Dr. Grey your awake. I'll be right back"

**Jacks POV:**

I stood outside her room, watching Dr. Grey and Dr. Shephard give her a neuro exam. I heard them telling her how she had been unconscious for 17 days. How it would be weeks before she could walk, let alone go back to firefighting. I watched as she tried to be strong, to be brave.

"you can go in now, she's asking for you," Dr. Grey said as she exited to room

I nodded and re-entered her room, sitting down in the chair by her bed.

"I need to talk to you about something"

"That sounds serious" Andy replied. I could see the fear in her eyes. I hated to do this… to hurt her.

"Captain Sullivan is paralyzed from the waist down, he has to resign," I said "he wants to make me captain… but I can't be captain and be in a relationship with my Lieutenant."

Andy's eyes fell. Damnit. I didn't want to hurt her. I wanted Andy, but she has a long recovery ahead of her. She needs a captain who understands that not a new captain coming in, stressing her out and pushing her harder than she can handle. I need to protect her, but the only way I can do that is by breaking her heart.

"well I guess we only have one option then"


	4. Chapter3:Hidden

**Vic POV**

It was 4 hours into shift and Andy still wasn't here. I was cleaning the engine in the barn when Travis came up to me.

"Where's Andy?"

"I don't know" I replied handing him a washcloth

"She's never been this late to a shift." Travis said wiping down the headlights. "Sure she's been cold and insubordinate but skipping a shift... she's gonna get herself suspended."

"She's been through a lot... but I didn't think she would get this..."

"Distant? Secretive?" Maya said coming to stand with me and Travis. "She's barely ever at home. I don't know where she sleeps but it's not at home. She's always lying about it too. Saying she slept at her dads or the station."

"The wierd thing is she's usually fine. Better than fine, really really happy. But at work she's just..." Travis said

"Something happened with Jack." Maya said. "I don't know what but... he went to see her at the hospital and they had some serious looking conversations dntbenhe left. I didn't see him there again."

"HERRERA" Jack yelled from inside his office.

We looked over to see Andy walking through the doors of the station.

"What." She said coldly.

"Shift started 4 hours ago where have you been?" Jack asked walking out if his office.

"Here. In the bunk." Andy responded pushing past him.

"Herrera." Jack said stopping Andy from walking away. "I just saw you get out of your car. Don't lie to me."

"Don't lie? Don't lie?" Andy said getting angry. "You're telling me not to lie to you?"

"Andy not here" Jack said looking over at us. We all looked away going back to cleaning the engine.

"Your one to talk." Andy yelled. We looked over again. "I love you Andy, I always have and I always will. Remember that?" Andy was screaming so loud now. "That's what you said when you found me half dead in the woods. So what? Were you lying or did you just say it because you thought I was going to die anyway."

"Holy crap" maya whispered.

"Andy calm down." Jack said. The whole stations had come down to see what was happening.

"Oh what your afraid the whole station will find out you told me you loved me and then left me for your fancy captains position?" Andy yelled.

"OFFICE. NOW." Jack yelled pointing at his office door.

Andy rolled her eyes and walked into the office.

"Sure thing, captain."

"Holy shit... that was bad" Travis said

**Andy POV**

Jack walked in behind me and slammed the door. Suddenly I was against the wall, his lips on mine.

"Jack" I said, pushing him away. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean... we've done this before. The whole fake fighting thing. They could easily figure it out."

"That fight? That fight was very convincing. They can't possibly think that was fake." He said, his hand around my waist.

"We've gotten caught before Jack... I just hate this lying."

"How about this...no more sex at the station. That way we don't have to sneak around."

"Ok" I said, turning to the door. Before I could open it I felt Jacks arms wrap around me, turning me towards him.

"One more time" he said kissing me.

"One more time"

**Sorry this chapter is super short, the next one will be up in a day or two.**


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